“The fact is that we have a very loyal user base — in fact, our research reveals that our core users, which happen to be primarily female, use Ask.com to search for three types of information: reference, health, and entertainment. What’s interesting is that these users in fact use Ask.com three times more than any other search engine,” commented Graham.

“We are definitely still innovating. We still plan on being a great search engine — the best, in fact, for users who are seeking answers. In fact, we’re hiring for some key roles to help support this new strategy.”

There’s certainly something to be said for the fact that if you try to be all things to all people, you’re guaranteed to fail, and I give Ask.com credit for deciding to focus on its core users rather than its competition. But what percentage of users who type a query into a search engine are specifically searching for an answer? (as compared to, say, pictures, products, services, phone numbers…) How do you define an “answer”, anyway? And is it reasonable to expect users to use one search engine to find “answers”, and another for everything else? (personally, I just use Google for everything).

Matthew Magain is a UX designer with over 15 years of experience creating exceptional digital experiences for companies such as IBM, Australia Post, and sitepoint.com. He is currently the Chief Doodler at Sketch Group, Co-founder of UX Mastery, and recently co-authored Everyday UX, an inspiring collection of interviews with some of the best UX Designers in the world. Matthew is also the creator of Charlie Weatherburn and the Flying Machine.